Spinning & A Book Review

Lately I have been doing quite a bit of spinning. It has been wonderful to be able to be back to spinning and able to work on my projects every day, even if it is only for a few minutes. 
The above yarn is one of the 1 ounce samplers that I dyed up. This one is currently on the back burner as I work on the following project. I should just hurry and finish it up. It takes hardly any time to spin and ply 1 ounce. But my interest has wandered to a different project (*blushes*) and there my sample sits, neglected in the bowl on the bookcase....

This is the project that is currently consuming my spinning moments. I have a special plan for it and I can not wait to reveal my idea to you! Right now I am spinning the darker tones in this roving. It is Merino wool, and so very bouncy! I am doing a little better getting it the weight I want it. 

I finished spinning and plying this yarn. I just realized that I did not show you any in-progress photos. It is such a unique mix of colors, I have no idea what I will do with it yet. For now it has joined the other three on display on the piano.

Several weeks ago I collected my holds from the library. I stumbled across this book, Hand-Stitched Felt, somewhere in blogland and saved a picture of it to my phone to order. I was so delighted with it that I have decided to do a quick review for you before I send it back to the library. Which it is probably overdue now.... ehem.

First off, the cover! Aren't these finger puppets the sweetest things! I love the different expressions on their faces. They all have such individuality and character.

The book has lots of pictures, many adorable hand-drawn diagrams & patterns, and all instructions seem to be clear and concise.

Look at this sweet little rabbit! I think it would make a nice addition to a little boy's room. There is also a girl rabbit version. But the overalls on this little gentleman were just too cute, I had to share this picture.

Patchwork Potholder

I am an avid letter writer and this Stationery Pouch would be just the thing for traveling, or simply going outdoors to write a letter. I know plenty of other letter writers who would also appreciate this pouch.

A Fetching Portfolio is on my list of things to make, as soon as I have that much felt on hand! I would do different colors, but the overall idea is brilliant. There is even a hard mat board sandwiched inside to keep papers from bending. This would be perfect for letters, writings, stories, drawings, paintings.... the possibilities are practically endless.
Personally I would probably use it for my watercolour paintings. I've wanted a portfolio ever since I saw the one in the movie, Miss Potter. 

Everyday Journals are sweet little notebooks perfect for chronicling memories, sketching a photo, writing down notes...

Patchwork Potholder I like the rustic look of these, the scrappy pieces, big stitches. A set of these would make lovely Christmas gifts for all the cooks in the family. 

The Stuffed Animal Family is a lovely gathering of mice, dogs, and rabbits. Their little outfits can be changed in a multitude of ways, depending on color and what stitches and embellishments are used. I think the little dresses would look so sweet with embroidered flowers on the bottom. At 11 inches high they are a good sized stuffed animal, I was surprised by how big they are! From the picture I was imagining they would be much smaller.


These are just a few of the 25 projects withing this charming book! I hope this little glimpse of Kate Golda's Hand-Stitched Felt book will inspire you to pick up the felt & embroidery floss and start sewing! I know it inspired me. Now I just need to find a good source for nice wool felt. 


Happy Sewing, my friends! 

Halfway Down

"Halfway Down"

by A.A. Milne

Halfway down the stairs

Is a stair

Where I sit.

There isn't any

Other stair

Quite like

It.

I'm not at the bottom,

I'm not at the top;

So this is the stair

Where

I always

Stop.

Halfway up the stairs

Isn't up,

And isn't down.

It isn't in the nursery,

It isn't in the town.

And all sorts of funny thoughts

Run round my head:

"It isn't really

Anywhere!

It's somewhere else

Instead!"

*** "Halfway Down" was taken from When We Were Very Young, by A.A. Milne.

Just A little Bit Of Handspinning

Hello my friends! It is good to be back with you. Today I had occasion to drive through some very pretty countryside that I do not normally see so early in the morning. There were so many opportunities for photos, and had I not been on a time schedule I would have stopped multiple times. When I first set out there was mist rising off of the ponds and lying low in the hollows. The landscape looked so pretty in the early morning sunlight.

I did take the time to stop and snap a picture of this barn. I've always liked the setting it is in; winter, spring, summer, autumn, storm or shine, it always looks lovely.

There were a few cows loitering in and around the barn, and they stopped their munching to stare lazily at me for a moment, before going back to eating their breakfast.

Add caption

And now on to the hand spinning. Remember last time I showed you several spindles with spun singles?  Well these are the completed skeins of yarn. They were all spun as a single, wound into a  center-pull ball on my nostepinne , then the ends were plied together to make a two-ply yarn. The yarn weight is probably a light worsted, I have not checked the wraps per inch yet so that is just a rough guess. I find that since I was not spinning as much this past spring, I seem to be a little rusty when it comes to spinning certain weights. Or perhaps I am just not used to how this merino behaves. It seems to fluff up a great deal when it is plied and the twist is set.

"Orchid" 

 I wrote down the formulas for all these colorways and I hope to be able to successfully duplicate them in the future. These are all the 1 ounce samplers.

"Lagoon"

"Delphinium" 

Even though I dyed some colors I might not normally like, I find that I liked everything I dyed, simply because each roving was a lengthy process and became a work of art. Thus it is with each yarn, there are certain colors I might not usually pick, but the fact that I dyed the roving makes the yarn quite fascinating to me. Each is a work of art and I find that I can display them for quite awhile before I feel inclined to knit anything with them. Currently these three yarns are in a decorative bowl on the piano.


On another note, the previous post I did was my 200th post! I was quite astonished to realize that. 
Perhaps it is time for another giveaway! I'll keep you posted. 


For now, take care and have a lovely day!

Catching Up: Fiber Updates

 Hello Everyone! It has been far to long since I was here with you. This beginning of this summer started with a bang and I feel like I have been going, going, going, non stop. As of yet, things have only slowed up a little. But it looks as if things should calm down soon. 

A few weeks ago I was a vendor in a fiber festival. The weeks leading up to the festival were very busy for me. I was unable to pick my fiber that I needed to dye until quite late, and then we went on a family Holiday. So by the time I got home, and had free time to spare, the festival was only two weeks away! I amassed all my supplies and took a day to mix up my dye stock. Then I started dyeing!

 It took almost a week to kettle dye and hand paint 14.5 pounds of Merino wool. Initially I did not even think I would get it all done, though I was hoping too!

I dropped into bed exhausted at the end of each dye day, tired of steam, vinegar and standing all day. But every morning I was ready to get back at it and as each successive dye day dawned, I would have all sorts of fresh ideas rolling around my head of color combinations, techniques and other ideas I wanted to try. It was interesting to see how color-wise on some days there seemed to be a common theme, and other days it was all higgledy-piggledy.  It was such a fun process and I enjoyed myself tremendously.  If I could dye fiber two or three days a week, every week, that would be happiness indeed. It is a wonderful creative outlet and there is no limit to the what you can do with a little bit of no-how and some practice.

 I use the Greener Shades Dyes to dye all my fiber. All of the colors, other then the Coral Reef Aqua, are non-toxic and do not contain any heavy metals. It was the safety of these dyes that attracted me to them. They still are made up of chemicals, but they are much safer for you then many dyes. I do all my dyeing in the family kitchen, and I do not want to inadvertently harm someone with my dye solutions. I use regular white vinegar as a mordant, but for some of the colors it would be better to use citric acid, especially for the Coral Reef Aqua. I am still a little nervous about using the Aqua, but I am just careful when I measure it out, and I wear gloves and clean up thoroughly after each batch. But back to the citric acid. I need to find somewhere to buy it in bulk, because for certain colors and mixtures I find I like the results best with the citric acid. 

 At the fiber festival I picked up another half ounce of Sunshine Yellow. I discovered I use this color the most with my mixtures, I ran out of my yellow on the last dye day! River Blue runs a close second, I'll have to restock on that one soon. I was gifted the lovely red bamboo and merino roving show above. And the purple and green merino roving was what I received in the Vendor-to-Vendor Swap. I always like doing the vendor swap. It is fun to prepare a little bag of goodies to enter, and equally fun to see what you receive in return. 

 Despite the busyness of life, I have found time to do quite a but of spinning in the last few weeks. I have been spinning up some of my little half ounce samples of colors I plan on repeating. And I have also been working on some of my 1oz sampler rovings as well. The above picture is a half ounce.

Half ounce

1 ounce Lagoon

My Mum is spinning this roving up. Aren't the colors wonderful? 

1 ounce Orchid

I have finished yarn waiting to be photographed. If it is a nice day outside tomorrow I'll have to take the skeins out and take some pictures. I have been spinning on one of my smaller drop spindles. It still has a fairly thick whorl though, so it is a good weight for what I am doing. I am trying to spin all of these samples up at a similar weight, that way if I wan to use them together in a project I can. 


Well it is late, and I have lots more to update you on but I am quite tired, so farewell for now ,my dear readers!

Spinning Beaded Yarn With A Drop Spindle

 Two weeks ago I stopped into a local fiber Mill to check out the set-up and see how they processed their fiber. I was planning on placing a wholesale order with them and since I was in the area I figured it would be nice to check-out the mill. It is always fascinating to see the workings of a fiber mill. The amount of fiber they move through on a regular basis is simply amazing! While there I purchase a little bag of felting fiber. The staple length was long enough that I was able to card it up into rolags for spinning. I only had one color that   
I could not use. This one was set aside for needle felting, or perhaps for making felted soap.

 For quite awhile now i have been wanting to try my handat spinning beaded yarn. I did a search online to study various methods of bead spinning. Everything I read was tailored to spinning beaded yarn on a spinning wheel. But I figured with a little finagling I could probably make one or more of the techniques work on a drop spindle. I picked the method that seemed easiest for using with a drop spindle. First I strung a small handful of 6/0 seed beads onto a spool of cotton quilting thread. The thread was going to be used as the core of my yarn. I set the spool of thread on my lap, picked up one of the rolags and began to spin, using the thread as my core. Every 10-12 inches I would pause in my spinning and slide a bead up the thread to the join where my rolag was attached, and then continue spinning. I'll have to include a photo of this in my next post concerning this yarn. 

 At the time of taking this pictures I had spun about two roalgs worth of Romney. I added that to the beginning of my yarn for another lighter color in the mix.

I am VERY excited to see how this yarn turns out! Seeing as this is a new technique for me, and that there was no beading directions for the drop spindle, I'm kind of winging it. and seeing what happens.. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. I am not sure if I am going to bead approximately half of my fiber and then ply my two ends together, or if I'll bead it all and ply it together, or bead it all and ply it with something else. I'll keep you posted!


Right now I am on a road trip, headed out of state to help our friends with the children while they are at a conference. Thanks to my new notebook, I am able to blog as we drive. Blogging on-the-go is a new experience for me, I find I am enjoying it. 


Any new techniques or tips you have learned recently? Be it spinning, knitting, crochet, or sewing....I would love to hear about it!
That's all for now. Take care my friends, and I'll be back with you soon.

Spring: Part 1

This year spring arrived early because of our bout of warm weather a month ago. In between we have had some cold days, but overall it has been very spring-like and altogether lovely. It has been nice enjoying such a lengthy, drawn-out spring. 

The pictures in this past were taken over a couple weeks, going from oldest to newest. I was on my way back across the state and everything was beginning to burst into bloom. There were photo opportunities everywhere, but I was on a schedule and could not stop very often. However little unexpected chances arose, such as these gorgeous flowering trees in the walkway by the music store.

About a week ago I started working on the raspberry patch. Because of the early warm weather the weeds have gotten a wonderful jump, thus it was not a pretty sight that met my eyes the first time I went out there. We have clay, and in-between rains the ground gets as hard as rock. So after a rainfall, and as soon as the slippery, clumping clay is remotely workable, it is best to rush out and get things done before the crazy winds on our hill dry the ground back out. Sometimes if we do not have wind the ground will stay soft longer.
I did some weeding, raked away a great deal of dead rubbish from last fall and then called it quits because I was in need of thick gloves before I pruned. I came back a few days later with two helpers and got more weeding and raking done, as well as pruned back dead  and/or wild growth. The patch is not quite ship-shape. But it is looking pruned and respectable. Every time I scoop the boys beans I spread a bucketful or two around the base of the raspberry canes. Alpaca beans are mild enough that you can use them straight in your garden. There is normally some straw interspersed with the beans, but it will help keep down the weeds and eventually decompose and add nutrients to the soil.

Crabapple tree

Apple tree.

Maple tree.

The leaves are coming on ever so slowly, but each week the hazy green in the distance deepens and the woods look fuller. The field behind us has been planted already. Corn. Not at all a happy thing for me, as well as other members of our family. We were never allergic to corn, but something about this new GMO corn is not good for our allergies. Lets just say for about a month and a half some of us can not even go outdoors comfortably, nor have the windows open in the house. Its a relief when we can get away from the corn and are able to breathe without sneezing constantly or having running eyes.

The Applemint has spread and is doing nicely. It is almost impossible to eradicate it, (short of a huge excavation and some sort of poison I suppose!) so everywhere we have been it has done nicely. But here with all this lovely(?) clay, it grows huge and happy. It is nice for tea, however we haven't dried a whole lot of it in recent years. Though I do believe I will try drying a bunch of it this summer. My Mother and my sister-in-law both make soap and it would make a nice add-in to certain scents.

Windfall & Mounty

And now on to the animals on the farm! The alpacas are doing well, there have been some temporary modifications to their living arrangements.....

.......And for a while there they were not sure how they felt about it.  But now everyone is settling in nicely and getting used to the change. Meet our newest members.....

.......Guinea Hens!

The ladies are about 6 months old. We purchased them from my Aunt. Due to her other animals they were not very compatible on her farm. Her poor bulldog pup had to be on a leash and was getting chubby from lack of exercise. Not to mention they can be a little noisy when alarmed.
But so far we've not had any trouble with them. They have to be kept enclosed for awhile, so they get used to their new home and do not try running off. They are all just starting to lay, and we get four or five eggs every day. It is a nice steady amount. Not enough to give eggs away very often, but also not so many as to overwhelm us. Guinea eggs are different from your standard chicken eggs. They are quite small, we've heard two guinea eggs equals one large chicken egg. To me they just look like small chicken eggs. The shells on the eggs are quite thick, they feel like little rocks when I hold them in my hand.
The ladies do not have names as of yet. It is not like we will be able to tell them apart! But we do like to name our creatures. 

The first time let the ladies wander around the boys pen Mounty has tried to chase them. But he and Windfall both are learning to listen. After getting after him, he has since left them alone. Sunday while I was taking care of the guineas water they escaped out the barn door behind me. I had not had that happen before and I was envisioning them flying over the fence and escaping entirely. Mounty instantly went on the alert and let out a little hum, taking a step toward them. But I firmly told him no, and after watching them a moment he went back to eating. Windfall ignores them unless they are let out in the lawn to eat grass and bugs. Mother did that once, last week, and he was quite agitated. I don't know if it was because he thought they were somewhere where they didn't belong (since they are usually kept locked up) or if it was because he wanted to be outside his fence. The grass is always greener you know....

That is all the farm news for now! 

Next up:  a new (for me) spinning technique!